Ranger Bear (Return to Bear Creek Book 11)

by Harmony Raines

  Avery smiled. “Cute. I like you, Sheriff Brad.”

  Brad nodded. “Not what you were thinking when you left my office earlier.”

  “No, it was not.” She tilted her head and smiled at him. “I’m nothing if not honest, and so I’ll tell you, I figured I was on my own, that you were so convinced your town was perfect, that you would rather let Manny Maxwell and Joe Hislop go than let Bear Creek be implicated in a drug ring.”

  Brad leaned forward, his voice low. “I’m sheriff here, and I vouch for ninety percent of the population in town. Including the kids in the retraining programs. But the other ten percent, those that are new, or visiting? I don’t pry into their lives unless they warrant it.”

  “Forgive me, I’m not a small-town girl. Where I come from, most people don’t even talk to their neighbors. Let alone the police.” Avery could like a town like Bear Creek. She could like it a lot. Her eyes slid sideways to Jacob. “Are you going to stare at me the whole time?”

  His head jerked around. “Nope. Sorry.”

  “I can trust him, can’t I?” Avery asked, jerking her thumb at Jacob.

  “With your life.” Brad stood up. “Now, you two kids have fun. Jacob, you have the satellite phone. Call me if you need assistance, and one way or another I’ll get it to you.”

  “I understand.” Jacob stood up and faced Brad. “Take care of yourself. I know you’re shorthanded.”

  “Oh, don’t worry, I can rustle up a posse if I need one.” Brad sauntered out of the coffee shop, calling a goodbye to the woman behind the counter.

  “Small towns, gotta love ’em.” Avery fixed her eyes on Jacob. “So, Ranger, what’s the plan?”

  “The plan is you walk out of here, get into your car, and leave town.”

  He spoke with a really serious expression, and for a moment Avery thought he was sending her away. “You are telling me to get out of town?”

  He nodded. “Do you have a GPS?”

  “Sure.”

  Jacob pulled a napkin toward him, and dug into his pocket for a pen. “Go here. I’ll meet you there. I want everyone in town who might be watching to think you left alone.”

  “You mean Mike?”

  Jacob shrugged. “He might just think he has a shot with you. There may be nothing more to it than that. We’re not going to take any chances.”

  Avery got up. “I agree.” She slid past Jacob, heading for the door, her blood pumping in her veins. At last she had people on her side. At last she had a shot at clearing Lonnie’s name.

  Chapter Four – Jacob

  It took all his strength to keep his ass in the chair as she walked out of the coffee shop. The thought of her walking past Mike’s store, of his eyes on her…not to mention what his thoughts might be.

  Jacob gripped the edge of the table. He wanted to tear Mike’s head from his body.

  He inhaled deeply and let it go. That wasn’t going to help Avery.

  Looking at his watch, he concentrated on the seconds passing by, then the minutes. It was unbearably slow. After three minutes, he got up, waved at Chloe behind the counter, and left to fetch his own truck. His plan was to follow some distance behind Avery, and check that she was not being tailed. He’d sent her to his house. It was situated on a narrow road, ending in a dead end; if anyone had followed her, he hoped to back them into a corner. A corner from which they would not escape.

  His bear rumbled his agreement. Whether on four wheels, or four paws, they would chase down anyone who threatened Avery.

  Jacob left the coffee shop and headed back toward Brad’s office. He glanced sideways at Mike’s store, but there was no sign of movement. The temptation to go across the street and try to get any information out of Mike was a compelling one. The desire to protect his newfound mate was overwhelming: anything that threatened her, needed to be neutralized. Immediately.

  Jacob clenched and unclenched his fists. He needed to let go of his temper. The mountain was no place to be if your mind wasn’t fixed on the job. Countless times people got into difficulty because they let their emotions take over, and they lost their respect for the dangers.

  Pushing Mike to the back of his mind, he walked on at a steady pace. Ahead of him, he could see the roof of his truck, and that was what he focused on. Until Avery drove by.

  He could sense her presence as her car neared him; it was as if they were attached by an invisible thread. Swallowing, he fought the need to release his bear and run after her. But it wasn’t easy. None of this was easy.

  For so long he’d dreamed about finding his mate, a woman who liked the outdoors, who would climb the mountain with him and swim in the ice-cold lakes. In his dreams, their meeting had always been casual, two people passing on a mountain pass and instantly recognizing the other for who they were.

  Life didn’t work like that. But it was good to dream.

  Reaching his truck, he pulled the door open and got in. Inserting the key in the ignition, he started the engine, and then swung around to head back out of town. He kept his speed within the limits, but only just. Maybe he should have insisted Avery come with him. But the idea had been to make it seem as if she were leaving on her own, maybe leaving town for good. If Mike, or anyone else watching, saw her leave with the local ranger, they would know she was planning to go into the mountains.

  He conjured up an image of Mike, and then went over all the information he had on the guy. Not a lot. Taking over a business in Bear Creek was not unusual, and it also wasn’t unusual for a newcomer to keep to himself. Jacob gave a short laugh: a lot of townsfolk who had lived here for years kept to themselves. Shifters could be a secretive breed.

  Which gave him an idea. There was a wolf shifter who lived in a cabin halfway up the mountain. Wyatt was his name. He’d lived there for years, after leaving Wolf Valley at the height of the trouble over there. Even with the town back under control, he had chosen to stay put in the home he’d built high above Bear Creek.

  Jacob often stopped there for a cup of his dandelion coffee, or nettle tea. It was a good way to catch up on what was going on over on the mountain. Wyatt spent his days roaming the mountain in his wolf form, and heard and saw things no one else did.

  Maybe he knew something about where Manny Maxwell and Joe Hislop went. He might even have some knowledge on the drug dealers themselves. If they existed. Jacob still wanted to believe it was a mistake. But Avery was certain, he could read it in her expression.

  The road ahead of him narrowed; he’d nearly made it home on autopilot, as he often did. Nothing had jumped out as unusual, and he’d passed no other cars. That didn’t mean there wasn’t someone ahead of him. Keeping his mind on the road, he slowed his truck and made the last part of the climb to his cabin in low gear, ready for anything.

  But there was nothing, only empty road, and then the gravel track leading to his home, where his mate was waiting.

  “This your place?” Avery asked as he got out of the truck.

  “It is. I’ve lived here since I left home. It was a ruin, but my brothers helped me fix it up.” He looked at his cabin proudly.

  “A fixer-upper. Nice.” She gave him a look that made him wonder if he classed as a fixer-upper too. He had to admit, he usually let his hair grow to shoulder length, and in the winter, he happily grew a beard, which he shaved off when the weather warmed.

  “There’s a barn around back, I store feed for the local wildlife in there during the cold months, but it’s empty right now. Let’s get your car inside.” He walked around the side of the cabin, and Avery got in her car and followed behind him.

  Flinging the barn doors open, he stood back while she drove her car inside and got out. “Do you really think we need this kind of precaution?”

  “You’re the cop. But I think the less anyone knows about what’s happening, the better.” He shut the barn door and pushed the bolt home.

  “Do you get many people passing this way? It looks kind of remote.” Avery looked around at the trees surrounding the
house and then at the view below. “Isolated.”

  “I like the isolation,” Jacob admitted. “But to answer your question, yes, I do get people passing by. There’s a trail along the southern ridge of the mountain, you can see the front of the house from there.” He pointed toward the mountain ridge to the north.

  She nodded. “Attention to detail, I like that.” She shouldered the pack she’d taken from the car. “Are we ready to go?”

  “First, we should grab some more supplies. Or did you pack trail rations?” Jacob assumed his role as a ranger. They had to be prepared, especially with a possible storm heading their way in three days’ time.

  “No trail rations,” Avery admitted. “But the grocery store was going to be my next stop.”

  Jacob surveyed her pack. “Let’s go inside, I’ll make coffee and we can empty your pack and discard what we don’t need.”

  “Hey, why empty my pack?” Avery sounded offended, which was not his intent.

  “There’s no point doubling up in stuff,” he explained. “The lighter we can travel, the faster we catch up with your dealers.”

  “Sounds reasonable.” Then Avery asked, “What if we get separated?”

  “We won’t.” Jacob opened the front door of his cabin and went inside. Avery hesitated before following.

  “How can you be so sure? It’s a big mountain.”

  “I’ll find you, if you get lost.” He placed his own pack down on the kitchen table and turned around to fill the coffee pot. Jacob needed to do something; having his mate here in his home was almost too much. The scent of her filled his mind with images of them in bed. His primal need to claim her was overwhelming.

  “If I get lost? What if we have to split up for other reasons?” She set her pack down on the table. Avery had no idea how impossible it would be for him to lose her. His inner radar was trained on her constantly. However, she was right, they might have to split up for any number of reasons.

  “We split the packs so we both have what we need to survive alone. Food, matches, and water.” He let the aroma of fresh coffee fill the room before he continued. “Look, you have your job, and I have mine. Plus, I have a couple of two-way radios. Even if we get split up, we can keep in contact. I have done this before.”

  She nodded, looking happier about the situation. “OK, I won’t tell you how to be a ranger, you don’t tell me how to be a police officer. I can live with that.”

  “Although, technically, you aren’t a police officer, since you are on vacation.” He cracked a grin, which she returned. His heart contracted with longing, while a certain other part of his anatomy hardened. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen: blonde hair, blue eyes, with curves to die for. His mouth watered for one taste of her full lips, which hinted of a passion she kept hidden away.

  There was no way he was going to treat her with anything other than respect. She might be an incredible woman, but to Avery their relationship was cop and ranger. He was going to have to find a subtler way to introduce the shifter and his mate relationship to her.

  “Great, a mountain ranger who also thinks he’s a comedian.” But Avery’s hostility had ebbed. He was making progress. One step at a time.

  Chapter Five – Avery

  Avery had spent her whole life in towns. Growing up, college, work, she’d been surrounded by concrete. Here it was so open, so fresh. She breathed in the mountain air, feeling it rejuvenating her. The last few days had been rough, her whole world turned upside down after one phone call from Lonnie. The job she loved had somehow been tainted by the corruption Lonnie had uncovered. Being here in the mountains, and meeting Jacob and Brad, who seemed honest and genuine, helped restore her faith. They were what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of guys.

  “I think we’re ready.” Jacob came out of the house and pulled the door closed behind him. He locked it and put the key in his pocket.

  “Don’t trust your neighbors?” Avery asked as she turned to walk back toward him, a smile on her face. “I thought all you folks left your doors unlocked?”

  “It’s not my neighbors I worry about. They all know I keep a spare key under a rock next to the door.” Jacob returned her smile, and her heart gave a small flutter. Must be the mountain air, it had nothing to do with the warmth his smile contained, which she found infectious.

  He walked over to his truck. It was new, and well maintained. Exactly what she would expect from a man who might be called on at any moment to drive into the mountains in adverse weather conditions to rescue a hiker. Avery wondered if he cared for everything he possessed in the same way.

  She cleared her throat, the thought of being one of those possessions making her throat constrict in longing. It had been a long time since she’d allowed herself to become physically attracted to a man. Her career had come first; her need to see pride in her dad’s smile had driven her to work hard to get a promotion.

  “Coming?” Jacob asked as he opened the driver’s door and threw his backpack in. Avery hid her face from him, not wanting him to see her flushed cheeks.

  “Where are we going?” Avery strode to the passenger side and opened the door. She put her pack inside next to his and then climbed in. “Can’t we walk from here?”

  “We could, but there’s a main trail that leads into the mountains that’s nearer to town. I suspect that’s the path Manny Maxwell and Joe Hislop would have followed. It also leads close by to a cabin where an old friend lives. He is the eyes and ears of the mountain. If there’s anything to know, he’ll know.”

  “Informants. That’s a good place to start.”

  “You sound surprised. Do you think us hillbillies lack the ability to communicate?” he teased, and gave her a wider smile, which was cute: he had dimples, something she hadn’t noticed before. But now that she had, she would never forget them.

  “Not at all. But I didn’t know a mountain ranger would have informants, unless you count the birds and the bees.” He wasn’t the only one who could poke fun when the need arose. Jacob chuckled, and Avery leaned back in her seat, enjoying the ride. “It sure is pretty here.”

  “You like it?” Jacob asked hopefully, as if it mattered to him that she did.

  “I do. I’ve never been a country girl. But I sure could be persuaded.” She switched her gaze away from the view and looked at him. “You’ve lived here all your life.”

  “I have, Officer.” He steered the truck along the narrow road, heading back toward town, but before he reached the outskirts, he took a right and drove around the edge of the mountain. Then he took another right, and they climbed again, the road steep as it meandered through the forest. Tall trees towered above them, and the light dimmed as the branches formed a green, leafy tunnel above their heads. The bright sun was muted, casting a green shade over the interior of the truck. It was incredible, otherworldly, and she glimpsed what was so special about this place. She could see the appeal of clean air and forests, of mountainsides and wide-open skies.

  “It’s so empty.” She leaned her head on the glass and looked up at the trees, trying to see their tops, the place where they met the sky, but the canopy was too thick.

  “Of people, yes, but it’s full of life. The trees, the animals.” He chuckled again. Whatever had bothered him back in town when they first met appeared to have subsided. Jacob was relaxed, a man in his natural habitat. “I’ll make an outdoor girl out of you. Although it’s going to be a baptism of fire.” He pointed to his pack, which was a lot larger than hers. “You get to put the tent up tonight.”

  “How hard can it be?” Avery asked.

  “I’m sure an officer of the law can figure it out.” Jacob slowed the truck as the road got steeper, and the twists tighter. A crease formed on his forehead as he concentrated on keeping the truck from stalling. “This is always the worst part of the road. When it rains hard in the mountains, this section becomes a riverbed.”

  “These mountains are your backyard, aren’t they? It must be wonderful to see the mountain
change through the seasons.” A wave of something akin to homesickness swept over her. How incredible it must be to belong to a place like this. To be part of the very fabric of nature. Not human nature, but the real kind, that lived by its instincts and the rhythm of the seasons.

  “It is. I’ve never wanted to live anywhere else.” The truck slowed, and Jacob pulled over to the side of the road. “This is about as far as we can go in the truck. We’re going to have to walk from here.”

  “OK.” She jumped out of the truck; her energy and sense of adventure were overflowing. Hell, she was technically on vacation, so she might as well enjoy the experience. Catching her bad guys and clearing Lonnie’s name would be the peak of the mountain. She grinned to herself, that didn’t work as well as icing on the cake, but it would do. She inhaled deeply. “The air is different up here.”

  “We’re a lot higher up. Less pollution and the wind currents are different up here.” He came around to the passenger side of the truck and grabbed his backpack, lifting it easily. “Are you good to go?”

  “I am.” She looked down at her feet. “At least I have the boots for it.”

  “Worn in, too. I’m impressed. I brought extra medical supplies because I expected you to get blisters from new boots bought at Mike’s place.”

  “Sorry to disappoint.” Avery gave him a lopsided grin. They were flirting, and she liked it. She liked it a whole lot more than she should. Vacation or no vacation, she had to do her job. But oh, the thought of his hands on her feet, and then on her ankles, and her calves, moving higher…

  “I thought you said you were a townie?” Jacob slammed the truck door shut and she jumped guiltily.

  “I am.” Her insistence was a little over the top as she tried to keep her arousal out of her voice. “But I like to walk, and hiking boots are the most comfortable thing to put on your feet.” She avoided his eyes, not wanting to see the same hunger there.

  Turning her back on him, needing time to compose herself, she pulled the straps on her backpack, making sure they were comfortable. Pity she hadn’t had a chance to break the pack in. But the straps were well padded, and shouldn’t rub. If they did, maybe Jacob would massage her shoulders. She reluctantly shook off any thoughts of Jacob’s hands on her body.